If librarians’ sole purpose are to put away books and journals after usage, we will indeed see the loss of our librarians, as computers and the Internet are faster to retrieve and require no restocking.

If librarians act as scholars in helping us look for sources that deal with different aspects of the problem and possible solutions, our schools and communities will need them as we enter the digital age of seemingly endless information at our fingertips.

This will require a shift in the librarian role from one with knowledge to one able to advise what knowledge may be useful in solving a problem — a role they used to have when libraries were places of sanctuary where people came openly to discuss their problems and share what solutions have been written on the subject.

Compassion part of being Canadian

No one in Canada needs to be without financial support. There are millions of single parents who have successfully raised families using the resources available to them.

A little homework reveals all kinds of programs aimed at keeping Canadians out of extreme poverty.

Of course there is poverty, but given the choice between being a refugee fleeing from a government that wants to kill me and my family, and being a poor senior in Canada, I know which I’d choose.

Unless you are an indigenous person, you have no right to call yourself different from newcomers.

I am sorry the letter writer feels poorly done by, but a little compassion goes a long way towards keeping Canada the amazing, welcoming country that it is. As an immigrant, I am proud of being a citizen of Canada and am grateful for her blessings every day regardless of who her leaders may be.

Peg Young, Edmonton

You don’t need suburbs to raise a family

I live downtown with my husband and daughters aged two and five in a two-bedroom apartment. This is the lifestyle we and other downtown families have chosen, but in Alberta, we are outliers.

Alberta’s conservatism has shaped our cities for too long. The migration to the suburbs is rooted in the false belief that cities are bad and suburbs are wholesome, that children need backyards to have healthy childhoods, and that private space is superior to public space.

The trend is to conserve how the majority of the province lives. The push-back to the campaign of the Child-Friendly Coalition of Alberta is evidence of this.

Ending age discrimination against children in housing is not a cause to support low-income families (though it will likely help). It is an issue of choice: to live minimally; to live an urban lifestyle that does not rely on commuting by car; to raise children in socio-economically diverse neighbourhoods.

Also, children aren’t animals. Stop talking like they’re going to wreck the carpet if you allow them in your condo.

Yvonne Epp, Edmonton

Shakespeare wrote for everyone

I am with you, Paula Simons. 100 per cent. I recognize we have a government that wants to turn out well-trained technicians ready for employment although I am not sure in what sector there will actually be jobs. Yet, remember Shakespeare wrote for everyone, and the technician enjoys a robust Shakespearean play as well as the scholar enjoys a well-written Shakespearean play.

One only has to Google Shakespeare’s name to realize how much of our English phrases actually come from his writing. I, too, am confused by the interpretation of statistics that state 50 respondents’ written comments out of 25,000 people surveyed means five out of six people want Shakespeare out of school curriculum, especially when Shakespeare is barely in the curriculum anyway.

My sympathies go out to the arts and theatre communities in Alberta who successfully produce Shakespeare every year. What will happen to their younger theatre audiences if Shakespeare is removed from the curriculum? Isn’t this a little like censorship?

Regan Pinkoski, Sherwood Park

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